Blowdown

In forestry, windthrow or blowdown refers to trees uprooted or broken by wind. These winds are capable of opening large gaps in forests and in extreme cases causing blowdowns of whole stands from microbursts, tornadoes, cyclones or hurricanes.  There are a lot of blow down areas of trees visible in parts of Yellowstone National Park. Sometimes, depending on the soil, the entire tree is uprooted, and at other times the tree trunk can be shattered.  This is the root system of a tree that has been blown over.  I have no idea of the type of tree, but what an amazing shape these twisted roots make.